Apparatus for treating rubber.



L. G. WARNER.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING RUBBER.

APPLICATION rum) MAY 27, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

w g R I INVENTOR WITNESSES: %WLWW1W,

W By Aizomeys w Quvvk K L. G. WARNER.

- APPARATUS FOR TREATING RUBBER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2'7, 1914.

Patented J an. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOR UNITED sums Parana curios.

nnwascnn'rnn wanna. ortneceuruex, qcmincrrcnr, ASSIGNOR no gran Beacon FALLS nunnnn snon compan or nnaoournnns, connno'ncnr, a conrona'rxon or ieonnno'ricum.

menace.

APPARATUS FOR TREATINQ RUBBER.

Patented amt, rein.

Application filed May 27, 1914. SerialNo. 84:1,213.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, LnwIs CARTER WAR- NER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Naugatuck in the county of New Haven and State of donnecticut, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Apparatus forTreating Rubber, 01 which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to apparatus for use in the cure or vulcanization of gums,

.such as indiarubber and'articles of manufacture composed in whole or in part of compounds of such gums and their ingredients". v D I..

' Amongthe objects of the invent on is to providdapparatus for use in the roduction "of'article's of softvulcanized rub er whereof the mass ofmaterial composing the article's is compact and free from volatile substances and interstitial spaces.

, The improved apparatus is peculiarly ada'pted'for use in the manufacture of footwear-='-bpots and shoes,- and is especially useful-in carrying out the method set forth in. my co-pending application Serial $0. $54,925 filed March '17, 1Q13, for-treat1ng rubber. 'lihe drawings accompanyingthis specification illustrate a a practicable embodiment of the invention in a plant for commercial use.

Figure 11, is a plan view of :the apparatus;

and' F-ig. 2is an. elevational viewithereof.

', apparatus, Inamely,-theone.that of main-- Y A vulcanizer "-lgiseshowngwhich in the illustration 'comprisesIa cylindrical devlce having, a steam, acket. 2 supplied by steam froma suitable,sourcethroughqa conduit 3. The vulcanizer iszprovided .with'a door 4 at one end throu'ghiwhich the articles to be treated .will be admitted and discharged.

J'Ehe heated gas, which .may be 'an inert gas such ascarbon.d1oi1d, ,.or;may be air s admitted. to the vulcanizerl-at: one or..;mo're suitable pointsrtherein, in the resent. show- ,a' pre-heater $6.11 I

ing by means of a conduit -,.5, eadingfrom Two objects :are' .to be attained in this taininggthe desired-,pressure within the volcanizing chamber prionto and durmg'the fvuIcaniZatiQn pr ce'saLand-the .otherfthatiof nmaintaining the required temperature. In

onwtmethod of operation. the articles are pldcedin the vulcanizing chamber 1,-; a1 1 d se t a Sui abl .le lll fi trated in a'general way at; {are provided after such chamber has been heated to a suitable temperature the air within the chamber is exhausted, whereupon ,the article il becam c mpac ed and tired f om many ofthe volatile substances in' andupon the um fa n h am f e th gas is forced into the vulcanizing chamber, and pressure, preferably without vulcanizing heat, applied to the articles by'.the gas,either a'n inert gas or air, and afterward and while such pressure is maintained substantially, constant, the gas is heated to the vulcanizmg temperature, the pressure and heat not being dependent one upon ,the other and each being controlled independits respective ends to the conduits 9 and 5.

g'l he steam forthe variousportions of the apparatus herein illustrated will be assumed 4 tobe received .from the steam main A cona ted th bq a a gstea at boiler-pressure. 1

, e pump 7. has a QQIlIIGCtlOIL-Z with the ,steam main A. ()n ,thi s. connection ismounteda governor I -which controls the yalve 7 in a well ,known manner. A lever 7 is ,shQ QPiVOted to the governor frame and .havin a headengaging the stem of the va lve=- The other end ofthe lever 7 is a ted p9nihy.,;the,rod of a dia hragm or piston, mounted i the chamber which is open to the pressure in the vulcanizing chamberpa. tube 7 being provided for this purpose. The governqr'herein illustrated is a commercial article'and forms in itsdetails no part of the present improvement, its

adaptation however, and its presence as an element in the comb natlon, alonebemg esdeviees illusfonthe pressure. cqntrolledportion of the ress'ure'pump 7 is shown governor, whereby the operation of the pump 7 is automatically controlled by the pressure existing within the vulcanizing chamber. In one method of vulcanizing it has been found that a pressure of 30 pounds placed upon the vulcanizing chamber prior to the attainment of the vulcanizing heat I the pressure within the vulcanizing chamber is, as was before stated, forced through the coil 95 of the pre-heater,and from there into the vulcanizing chamber. The shell of the pre-heater 6 is connected by means of a suitable conduit 6 with the steam main A through a valve 6*. In the present illustration the temperature of the air or other gas in, the vulcanizing chamber is determined and controlled by the pressure of the steam within the preheating chamber. It has been found in practice that 35 pounds pressure within the shell of the preheater will, while the pump 7 is acting, maintain a temperature of about 280 degrees Fahrenheit within the vulcanizing chamber. The steam regulator illustrated for controlling the pressure of the steam within the pre-hater, comprises a diaphragm chamber 6 in connection by means of a tube 6 with the pipe 6 between the preheater and the valve 6. The diaphragm of such chamber acts upon the scale beam 6 which beam'is Weighted and regulated to suit the requirements of the apparatus. The scale beam acts upon a valve controlling communication between the diaphragm chamber 6, and the pressure tank 6 a tube 6 connecting these.

The pressure within the tank is-maintained constant by means of a pump 6 and a diaphragm regulator 6 controlling the valve in the supply pipe 6 from the steam main to the pump 6. The regulator herein illustrated is a commercial article andpforms in its details no part of the present improvement, its adaptation however, and its presence as an element in the combination, alone being essential. The operation of the r'eglilator, although well known, will for completeness be briefly described. Assuming that the valves 6 and 6 are open and thevalve 6* in the by-pass is closed, the valve 6 remains open until the steam within the reheating cylinder exceeds that predetermined and air isipermitte by the adjustment of the weightsupon the scale beam, whereu on'the scale beam tips to pass from the pressure reservoir 6 to the diaphragm chamber 6, and the stem 6 which is connected to the valve 6 actuates such valve'and closes. the same, thereby shutting off the steam from the pre-heater cylinder and permitting the temperature to run down in the pre-heater. This regulation of the temperature of the gasused for the-vulcanizing medium it will be seen is absolutely independent of the mechanism employed for maintaining the constancy of the ressure within the vulcanizing chamber. Jven the incidental reduction of volume of the gas upon the reduction of the temperature is compensated for by the pump 7 being automatically instantaneously speeded up. The pre-heater cylinder is provided With a discharge cock 6 from which condensation may be voided when necessary. A valve controlled vent from the vulcanizing chamber is provided at 13.

Operation: The apparatus illustrated and above described is capable of operating substantially as follows: The steam jacket 2 of the vulcanizing chamber 1 is connected with the steam main and the walls of such chamber preliminarily heated preparatory to the introduction of the gum formed articles into the vulcanizing chamber. Immediately upon such introduction and the closing of the door 4 the air within the chamber is exhausted by the pump 10 which low pressure assisted by the warmth of the walls of the chamber draws from the mass of gum any imprisoned air and other gases, and many of the volatile constituents of the gum and contents of the mass. All this serves to compact such mass and when the'same is on a form to cause close adherence thereto. The vacuum pump is then stopped and the vacuum broken, andcommunication established with the pro-heater 6, which causes the pump 7 to become active by release of pressure on the governor controlling device 7. The action of the pump continues until the predetermined pressure is reached in the chamber, after which the pump acts either slowly or rapidly or intermittently as conditions demand for maintaining the pressure constant throughout the run. At the time the chamber is placed in connection with the pre-heater the steamemployed as the heating agent for the vulcanizing medium is exerting its influence on the same within the coil 95. The pump 7 fills the chamber too rapidly for a rapid rise of temperature} therein and its subsequent action serves to gradually raise the temperature to the limit set upon the capacity of the preheater by the adjustment of the r ulator scale beam 6, upon the temperature, reaching such limit it is maintained thereat until i i the pre-heater is shut ofl from the chamber, the chamber opened to atmosphere, the pressure reduced, the door opened and vulcanized articles removed. Thus it will be seen that the pressure is automatically brought to the predetermined point prior to the temperature reaching the vulcanizing degree and maintained thereat during the entire process independently of the temperature, and that the temperature is gradually automatically raised to the predetermined degree and automatically maintained thereat.

It will be understood that the apparatus shown in the drawings is illustrative of the invention and that the scope of the invention is not limited to the details of construction shown in the drawings, the same being of an illustrative example of the invention and one which is and has been in commercial use.

What I claim 1s 1. The combination with a vulcanizing chamber, of means for forcing gas into the trolling the temperature of the gas within the vulcanizingchamber, and means for antomatically controlling the pump for regulating the pressure within the vulcanizing chamber.

3. The combination with a vulcanizing chamber, of a gas pre-heater communicating therewith and embodying steam heating means for said gas, a pump for forcing gas through such pre-heater and into the vulcanizing chamber, automatic means for controlling the pressure of the steam in said' heater to regulate the temperature of the gas, and means for automatically regulating the actionof the pump by the pressure of the gas within the vulcanizing chamber.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses,

LEwis canine WARNER.

Witnesses:

J. U. Fannie, PAUL K. IMMEL. 

